hi all, I'm new here and have been trying to search the forum for answers to some questions. If I did not post in the right category please feel free to tell me or move my thread id you can.Here is my situation. I have a small herd of dairy goats and am nearing the end of my kidding season..I have one doe left to go in about four weeks. I am currently milking two does who had their babies about three weeks ago. I am pulling the babies at night to get the morning's milk. I have made cheese from these particular goats in the past with no real issues. I have only been milking them on this lactation for a bout a week. I have tried three batches of chevre that did not set and two batches of mozzarella that came out very rubbery. They eat second cut hay and a mix of pelleted and sweet feed with free choice minerals. I had a doe that I recently sold but before I did I made on batch of mozzarella and it was great! I am at a loss as I used the same techniques for both does' milk in my cheese making but these does' milk seems different. To drink it straight up is wonderful but my cheese is not coming out Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

I'll wager its the residual colostrum that's problematic. Colostrum does not set like milk does. My first experience with milk from a newly freshened cow was last year. I milked her separate for a week, feeding it to the pigs. Then I tried to make cheese with mixed milk from her and another cow (later in lactation), maybe a ration of 1:2 or 1:1. Did not set well at all, wound up adding lots of extra rennet to save it. It was probably another week (2 weeks post freshening) that her milk started to perform normally.

Secondly, milk from freshened animals is lower in casein protein than it is later in lactation, so that will also contribute to a weaker curd and longer coagulation.

Thank you! I wasn't sure if it was where they were in their lactation or nutritional. The other doe( the one I sold) who I made cheese from was at two weeks post kidding. I had sold her kids at two weeks old and immediately started milking her. I only milked her for one week before she was sold. The other does I started milking at two weeks post kidding as well. The only difference is they are with the kids (who nurse from the moms) during the day and I remove the kids at night. Could the kids still nursing off of them be causing something in the way the does body produces milk or am I over thinking this whole thing?

We're making cheeses with success from our girls who kidded Feb. 14, March 23, 24, and 28th. We only milk the first three days after they give birth if they need relief due to having more milk than the kids are taking. We don't use this milk for human consumption. The milk we take during during these three day is refrigerated in case we have an uncooperative doe. We use this colostrum rich milk to bottle feed kids whose moms don't make enough in the beginning.